What got you into this hobby?

I was a one watch man for my whole life until acouple years ago I bought a vintage 90s Timex Ironman (adult version) just like my first watch as a boy. 

It started slow but its really taken off now. I actively buy and sell on ebay. I do a lot of refurb and repair. Exclusively quartz and all sub-$500 but its been really captivating and the profits I earn subsidize if not completely fund my own collecting habits.

I've worn watches all my life, mostly due to the fact that when I was a kid, I used to ogle an all gold Hamilton (1956 Sinclair) that my dad used to wear that he got for winning his golf club championship. 

But James Bond got me into the world of luxury watches. I love the Bond franchise and being a child of the '70's, I used to really be awed by the watches they showed in those movies, but it wasn't until the Omega partnership in the early '90's coincided with my ability to actually buy watches with my own money really got me "into" the hobby. I became an Omega lover at that time, although surprisingly, didn't buy my first Omega (or any luxury watch for that matter) until 25 years later or so. Raising a family and other priorities seemed more important at the time. The first luxury watch I really salivated over was the Omega Planet Ocean Good Planet GMT (with the orange accents in the bezel), until I realized that at 44.5mm, it was way too big for my wrist. Therefore, working in an office pretty much every day, I chose an Aqua Terra as my GADA watch and it's still my most worn watch today (although I still salivate over the 39.5mm blue dialed PO). 

The practicality in me has me gravitating towards brands like Seiko and Oris at the lower end of the spectrum and I stretch into the Grand Seiko and Omega areas from time to time. JLC is something that, for me, is truly aspirational and I doubt I ever get a Rolex simply due to what's happened recently with that brand, although I do admire Rolex.

But for me, it all stems back to my Dad originally who made watches "cool". 

I have always liked and worn watches.  I bought an SKX as my first "real watch," and then a monster then a Tissot.  I stopped for a while and pretty much only wore the SKX.  In early 2020 I started researching how to get a scratch out of my crystal in the SKX and found out about mods.  One thing lead to another and I had a crystal press, some tools, a Sinn 556a, more tools, a stream of vintage chronographs, Tudor bb58, etc etc.   It just kinda snowballed from there.  

My parents surprised me with this TAG Heuer F1 when I graduated high school. I loved it and didn’t take it off for six or seven years. They were super popular in the 90s and I remember being taken aback by how many comments I got on it from random people (mostly girls 😉)….

A desire for simplicity. Having a watch means less reliance on technology—I can look at a watch to tell the time rather than having to ignore the false urgency of my phone’s notifications each time I wanna tell the time—day or night. I like the method to the madness of mechanica/automatic watches—you’re carrying history and engineering on your wrist, and don‘t need to share it with others (like trendy clothes or opinions) to feel a watches value. If you ignore “hype,” watches are totems that carry memories and encourage quiet pride and simplicity. 

When I was a kid, I used to ask my grandpa if I could hold his watch.  I was young enough where I didn't know anything about life (let alone watches) and I just loved how it looked/felt and was fascinated with how heavy it was.  
He wore a 1970s 36mm Rolex Day-Date President (yellow gold).  It was only in high school that I learned this was an expensive watch and was sort of a "Status" symbol.  But holding this watch always captivated me and - to this day - this is one of my grail watches! I've been a fan of watches ever since! 

Other than then Omega from my grandfather, I went out and bought a Tag (Aquaracer Calibre S Regatta Timer) because it looked good in the shop window and I wanted to treat myself. Slippery slope.

I no longer have the watch though (long story, for another time).

what starting me "collecting" watches was the 80s & Swatch.  that's when i realized i needed more than 1 watch.  i really wish i didn't feel this way.  it's a curse...

I saw my dad wore classic seiko and citizen for his work. i wore casio as a kid for a long while and stopped wearing a watch from 20s to 30s since i dont like the idea of jewelry. however one day i felt like wearing a watch to tell time again, did a bit of research and found the first video w john mayer and ben in hodinkee and didnt know the depth of horology can be so fascinating. Thats the start of all these knowledge acquiring and watch purchases. I still feel one watch is enough for the rest of my life while reading abt others keep the fun going.

the love started as a child with my first watch, a flik flak purchased for me by my parents. it was a blue anodized case with a dinosaur on the dial. I loved it so much and ever since then have always like watches. I remember still having this watch in high school but have since lost it. I really wish I still had it.

I was always fascinated by clockwork mechanisms as a kid, and I had a beloved translucent Swatch in the mid 80s. But I became annoyed at constantly having something on my wrist after college, and went watchless for around 15 years before buying an Apple Watch on a whim. Once I was used to wearing a watch again, I was considering upgrading my Apple Watch when YouTube presented my feed with Teddy's Casio A168 for $25 video. This reignited my interest in watch mechanisms, and started my search for a non-smart watch replacement for the Apple Watch. I did get the A168, then a cheap mechanical, then another and another, and just a few months later, here we are.

Two years ago when I was turning 35 and my old FitBit was starting to fall apart I was thinking buying some new watch. An Apple Watch was the obvious answer but it felt expensive at the time. 500€ for a watch thats going to be obsolete in a year and it needs recharging every night like my phone. 

Then I remembered Matt from Smoking Tire talking about mechanical watches and I also remembered that James Bond wears an Omega. "What if instead of buying a 500€ watch for couple of years I could buy an Omega for life?" I started researching watches and like many stumbled on to Seiko SKX. I bought it to test the waters before buying the Seamaster. Since then I have bought and sold many watches including the SKX but the Seamaster stays.

I was always a G-Shock-kind of person for many years. I always enjoyed the fact that they had a design to suit your particular adventure. Then my brother and I were both gifted a ‘luxury’ Swiss watch by our parents. I didn’t understand why they had got us them. It sat in my drawer for a number of years. Then one day I decided to wear it. It felt nice so I decided to do some research about it. It’s a rabbit hole I’ve never managed to crawl out of - probably because there’s so much to learn and experience in this world. And the thought of seeing something I’ve never seen before is very exciting

The Speedy. I grew up in Houston in the Apollo era and loved NASA and the astronauts so the Speedy was the only watch I wanted. By the time I had a job and enough money to afford the Speedy, LIFE happened with a wife, mortgage, kids, braces, tuition, etc. Since I had a nice two-toned Datejust from my in-laws that I wore daily, I forgot about the Speedy because who had more than one nice watch?

Fast forward to the hoopla around the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing and the desire for a Speedy suddenly came back with a vengeance. With my kids both out of the house and working, I thought the Speedy would be a great END OF LIFE type grail purchase so I purchased the Speedy (Hesalite of course) and LOVE it. 

The problem was that in doing internet research to buy my Speedy, I caught the watch collecting bug. First, I bought a Seiko diver as a daily beater because I NEEDED a diver to mow the lawn and do chores (but not dive) and it was affordable so ok. Then, because I wanted a GMT similar to the ones the Apollo astronauts wore (darn Hodinkee and Fratello), I got the Tudor GMT (with more era accurate aluminum bezels and small loom plots but really helped by the fact I could actually find and buy one with just a little effort) for "traveling." I won't bore you more with the rest (more affordable watches and straps). Thankfully, I'm cheap so I won't buy the next big watch (eying a few) until I have saved up for them. 

Definitely my dad gifting me a Tag Heuer Aquaracer for my high school graduation.  11 years later it is still one of my favorite pieces. 

Bro thats incredible. Always loved the Timex Ironman pieces. Would like to maybe purchase from your ebay store sometime if theres anything of interest.

Its so good that you have turned your hobby into a way of paying for your hobby. I love that. 

Also, hit us with a link to your Ebay store.🍻

Wow. Such an awesome story. Appreciate that mate. You legit own one of my grails...The Aqua Terra. Such a beautiful watch. 

Maybe one day I can say i own it lol The JLC Reverso is another grail of mine. 

Hahaha wow. That definitely snowballed real quick. Thats awesome how the idea of repair not only got you back into the hobby but also got you deeper into it. 

Ive always been interested in mods and repairs but im way to scared to even try. Maybe someday. 

This may sound overly philosophical/reflective/therapeutic/narcissistic and at some points, an inane rambling of interconnected ideas, but hear me out. 

I've had an interest in watches since my first Casio Melody watch back in the mid 80's, but that interest, especially in my adolescent years, was on the periphery. When my dad passed in 2018, it got me thinking about the people you met and bonded over your lifetime, the memories you created and the legacy you left behind. Over the course of 80+ years, my dad (who was quiet and unassuming) had made a big enough impression on those around him, that family and friends still fondly recall their time with him, to this day. I guess it made me question if I had done enough, for people to think of me in the same manner. In many respects, those thoughts have reshaped my outlook, from that point onwards. 

At the same time, I was getting into the science of relativity, especially time dilation (I blame the movie Interstellar for this!). The sheer notion of time passing differently blew my mind, and I plunged even further down the rabbit hole, to try and understand more about this phenomenon. 

Of course, the Youtube algorithms kicked in, and it lead me to this video. If you haven't seen this, I would encourage you to watch it from start to finish. Adding to my new outlook, this video really put human's existence into perspective and if anything, probably reminded me that my time here is fleeting and I needed to make the most of it. I'm also fascinated by the notion that time is a measurement of change and that at some point, once an incomprehensible amount of time has passed, there will be no more change in the universe and as per the video "Time becomes meaningless".

All of these seemingly random ideas/thoughts had one thing in common - time. And it was this that lead me back to watches and especially mechanical watches. The idea that these tools were something that not only measured time, but my time, connected me back to my thoughts around my existence and my father. The fact that even the simplest of timepieces were a distillation of precision engineering, functional design and art, touched a number of interests that I had (and still have). And that when these artefacts are eventually passed on to family members/friends/relatives, that they will (hopefully) be reminded of the fond memories they had with me, as those who knew my dad, had with him.

Ok...enough of the "deep and meaningfuls".

A coworker and friend got me into it, I resent and appreciate it all at the same time!  Once he realized that I had really fallen in love with timepieces, he gifted me one from his collection. I have yet to purchase a watch of my own (other than a G-shock) but I know I will one day. 

My dad is a big watch nerd so I always got watches as presents from him. I still have many from when I was a kid